Homebound
by ghostfiction
Summary: Naruto is a trouble making kid with a long list of ex-foster homes. Trapped in a vast city, he skips classes, fights against any home he has been put in, and sees his life as a canvas for disorder.Rest of summary inside.Possible pairings:NaruxOC SasuXnaru
1. Chapter 1

Summary cont.: From the day of Naruto's birth, a curse was sealed unto him. He would be the sport of hunt for the demons raging about the city. But he would not be alone.

Please R&R of what you guys think so far. I have the next couple chapter scratched on some notebook paper I wrote during my classes.

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_Something isn't right, _Naruto thinks as he shifts his weight from one leg to the other. A few adults stood around him, also waiting for the subway train. He carefully peers around him, his right hand gripping the strap of his ratty messenger bag. He found himself regretting staying late at school. He had skipped a few classes earlier in the week with one class involving a very important test involving genes or something. He had speed through the thing, wanting to catch the activity buses. Turns out he had choosea day when the damn things weren't running, which left him to take the crowded subway system. Skipping class was a prerogative for him, despite the consequences. Everyone needed a break and Naruto felt the weekend was just to far away for his patience.

Though his nosey foster parents had caught up to his attendance record. Normally, Naruto would have told his foster parents to suck it, but they had threatened him with a personal tutor, forcing the boys to choose staying after school. Odds are they wouldn't send him some hot high school girl.

The tiled floor under Naruto's feet tremors as the massive bullet of a train pulls up to him, ripping from his thoughts. He hurriedly climbs on and sits on a small bench attached to the side, worn from use. The train wasn't to crowed despite the rush hour approaching.

_Should've just skipped all day… They'd just send me to another damn home, so it wouldn't have mattered. No one's gonna care about a run down kid like me, anyway._

A long moment passes in silence, aside from the shuffling of feet at every stop. A chill climbs up Naruto's neck when he feels eyes staring back at him. He causally glance around, spotting a shadowed figure at the end of the sector of the train. He avoids looking directly at it, his peripheral vision catching the thing shifting closer to Naruto every opportunity it got when the train would stop.

The train screeches to a halt as the next stop and Narutoclumsily scrambles out, shoving several people out of his path, who glare at or curse at the reckless, disrespecting boy. He jogs up the concrete stairs leading to the street above and stops dead at the top with a panicked realization. He had gotten off the wrong stop. The place he stood at now is the downtown of the city he lives at. The buildings frame the streets in blobs of gray and glass. There's a dark overcast from the sun being hidden by the aging edifices, shadowing the street. The air is thick and chilling to the bone. Shabby looking people lined the streets in a depressing manner, most of the probably homeless.

_Oh shit, how cliché. Now I'm going to get ass raped by some creepy stalker or stabbed by a gangster. _

Naruto reaches into his pocket, fingering for his subway tokens or lose change to buy some more. Or maybe for a payphone to call his foster freaks, since they were to cheap to buy him a cell phone. His jeans pockets turned out empty and he quickly searches the pockets of his jacket and bag, coming up with nothing but lent and empty candy wrappers.

"Guess I'm going home in a body bag." Naruto jokes to himself, starting his trek to his apartment on the other side of town. He kept his hands in his jacket pockets and his head down. A few rugged figures glances his way broadly. Naruto mentally curses his bright blond hair, as it always seemed to grab attention. All his previous foster parents had the assumption that due to his blond hair and dazzling blue eyes that he must be an angel of a child. Wrong. Naruto was defiant towards any stupid family social services had tried cramming him in. He hated them all. Several time he had been threatened with correctional school or a home for troubled boys. But Naruto was slick and managed to conjure up some successful argument against such things from happening; for now at least.

A strong hand grips Naruto forearm. He jumps and turns to see a grungy old man. He winces when the grip on his arm grows tighter.

"Hey, hey kid? You got some change?" he asks in a raspy voice. Naruto tries pulling away.

"No! Get the hell off me!" He tries saying it with a loud, commanding voice but the tone that resulted is small and meager.

"Aw, come on kid! You gotta have something !" , the old man persists, pulling Naruto closer. He scrunches his nose at the guy's stink of body odor and stale alcohol. Then like some kind of blessing, a police cruiser pulls up to the two. The diver's front window rolls down and a burly cop peers through.

"Buzz off.", he commands with a deep baritone voice. The bum gives Naruto a quick glare before escaping through a nearby ally way. Naruto rubs his arms and hesitantly approaches the cruiser.

"Um, thanks", he mumbles. The cop nods.

"You need a ride? I can take you up to the apartment complex if you wanted." Naruto eagerly agrees and climbs in the back seat of the car.

"So why you out in this part of town?" the cop asks. Naruto moves a bit, not enjoying the hard back seats of the car he had been in several times before.

"I, um, got off the wrong stop on the subway. Some guy was following me.", he replies, feeling stupid as he spoke. He sounded like a scared little kid. The cop eyes him through the front mirror.

"Same guy I scared?", he asks. Naruto shakes his head.

"No, I don't think so…"

"What's your name kid?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." For a few fearful seconds Naruto thought the guy would search under his name for any felonies or warning but his hands remain on the wheel.

"Uzumaki, huh? You Chinese or something?"

"My ancestors were Japanese." Naruto replies hotly. The cruiser enters the entrance of the rows of apartment buildings.

"Here is good," Naruto speaks up. The cop pulls over to the street curb. Naruto begins to climb out.

"You sure?" the cop asks. Naruto nods.

"Yeah, thanks."

"Sure. You stay out of trouble." The cruiser drives off. Naruto's apartment is still a couple of block away but being in that cop car had made him anxious. He also didn't want his bitchy foster parents catching a state cruiser driving him home.

He lets out a relived sigh, content to be back in a familiar neighborhood. The sun was now just beginning to fade over the tree tops lining the apartments.

"Naruto."

Naruto turns around at the sound of the voice. It didn't sound friendly and Naruto did not fell like checking that obvious fact. He quickens his pace, tightly clenching his fists.

"Naruto…Naruto!" the voice calls out. He couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from, like it was echoing all around him.

"Leave me the fuck alone!" Naruto yells out. Heavy foot steps thunder behind him and Naruto breaks out into a clumsy sprint. The steps grow louder and closer. Naruto's heart screams in his chest and his legs burn from the effort. The steps behind him don't falter a bit. Naruto looks over his shoulder , panting heavily.

BAM!

Something collides his the back of Naruto's head, rendering him unconscious.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! Okay, here is chapter two. Took me a while, I know. I have a lovely habit of procrastinating with most things I do.

dolphina23- thank you for your review! Yeah, my grammar can get a little choppy but I'm not a very good editor. Ha ;)

I'd like more reviews please. I'm a greedy person. Nah, I just want to hear other's opinions.

I was also thinking of putting in some kind of flashback on Naruto's life going through the social services and foster homes and what not. Please tell me what you think.

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"Hey, get up! Hello?" A hazy voice calls and a foot nudges Naruto's side. A soft groan escapes his lips and he opens his heavy eyelids. Immediately a light above blinds him, as he lay on his back. Naruto tries to move his arms from under him. Metal cuffs lock his wrists together, rubbing into the now tender flesh. He dares to reopen his eyes. The naked bulb hanging from the ceiling burns his eyes; he flinches and turns away. A pair of strong hands drag Naruto back up against a cold brick wall. His arms scream in relief when his weight is taken off. Though his head sends aching waves of agony through him, making him shudder. Something flakes from his head. What Naruto had thought may have been rust he realizes the flakes are dried blood, his forehead stiff from the clotted mess.

A glass of what Naruto guesses is water is pushed to his lips and tilted slightly. He drinks greedily, choking a bit as it's suddenly withdrawn. Naruto clears his throat and stares up at his captor, squinting in the lit room. A teenage boy stood over him, glaring slightly. His dark brown hair is tied back in a tight ponytail. He wore a green army jacket and a pair raggedy blue jeans. Naruto glares back weakly, beginning to struggle with the restraints.

"Who are you? Why the hell am I here?" Naruto demands in a raspy voice. The young man stares back at him dully.

"Calm down and I may just tell you." he mumbles.

"You bastard! You have no right to keep me here!" Naruto yells, ignoring the throbbing accumulating in his head. The teen reaches into his pocket, pulling out a pair of identical silver keys on a ring. He twirls them around on his index finger with a faint smirk.

"I wouldn't talk like that to someone holding the keys." he said. Naruto scowls but forces himself to relax his posture.

"I'll send someone in to explain later. Here's the water and some Aspirin for the pain." He tosses the keys by Naruto's legs. He sets the glass and a couple of pills on a faded old nightstand a few feet from Naruto. He then opens the old wooded door of the basement like room and shut it behind him. Naruto curses and turns his back to the keys, grasping them with his right hand. After a few clumsy attempts he manages to unlock the left cuff, ignoring the metal the cut into his wrists as he did. Then he hastily unlocks the right cuff, throwing the keys aside. Naruto crawls over to the water and pills, swallowing the two capsules down. He keeps the glass in hand and moves to the corner of the room, waiting.

Minutes pass and Naruto begins to feel more weary. His body had always had negative effects from most medicines but that didn't matte to him now. He already had felt like shit. Observing the door, he knew there was no way of escape as it looked sturdy enough for any beating Naruto would try against it; not that he would try in his current condition.

The wooden door silently opens, having Naruto believing he was imagining it at first. As a figure appears at the doorway, Naruto thrusts the empty glass. It crashes like gunfire against the doorframe and a startled scream erupts from the figure, as it had missed her by inches. Naruto winces, seeing it was just a teenage girl. She quickly recovers and gives him a hardened glare. A plastic container is tucked under her arm with a faded label pasted on the side of it: first aid.

"I'm sorry." Naruto blurts out. She shakes her head and kneels down to him. She opens the box and finds a package of disinfecting pads. Without a word she fearlessly begins to clean the dried blood from Naruto's head. The girl avoids any kind of eye contact, concentrating on her work. Auburn hair spills past her shoulders in uneven layers. Her skin is a pale complexion and free of any blemishes or freckles.

_I could just over power her. Knock her out or something. Then I might be able to find a quick way out of the place. It wouldn't be difficult at all…_

The girl wore dark jeans and a light pink tank top. A cold rush of fear and guilt washes over Naruto when he notices a bulge at her tummy. His thoughts of striking her stop dead. Sure, he wasn't the nicest guy in the world but he couldn't bring himself to strike a pregnant woman or girl for that matter.

"There, all done." she said, packing the supplies away. She meets Naruto's eyes, a smile on her lips. Her eyes are the same color of the boy before but seemed to be filled with much more life. Naruto smiles back before he could stop himself. Seeming to be satisfied with his reaction, she sets the box aside and walks over to the pieces of shattered glass and begins to collect them into a pile. Naruto watches her silently.

_The door is open. _Get out!

_I can't. I may scare her and she might cut herself or something._

_Bullshit! Escape now when you've got the chance!_

Naruto feels his joints move to accept the order when a dark haired young man blocks the doorway before Naruto could stand up. He glares down at the girl with black eyes.

"Get out." he said. She glances at Naruto and quickly exits the room. Naruto looks at the new arrival, sure that he wasn't going to be so hospitable. His onyx black hair shaded most of his face but Naruto saw that the young man glared back at him intently. His skin is ghostly pale. Naruto had to tell himself that this guy is human as he looked like a spectral being instead of anything near human. He wore a black shirt and a lose fitting white t-shirt.

"W-who are you? And why am I here?" Naruto demands. The teen grips the front of Naruto's shirt, pulling him close.

"I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you. I saved your ass back there." he said with a dark tone.

"What do you mean…?"

"I mean I knocked you out before that thing following you got to you first."

"Well if the 'thing' was so dangerous, why didn't you just warn me?!" The teen sneers at Naruto and pulls him even closer, their noses barley touching.

"Because, you wouldn't have listened. That thing would have taken you. And trust me, being knocked out is a far more fortunate fate." he said. His hot breath that had no scent drifts against Naruto's face.

"W-what are you talking about? I don't understand…" Naruto stutters.

"You'd be their slave, food, whatever."

"_Who_?!"

"Those demons!" The teen yells. Naruto flinches when his shirt is yanked up, reveling a crescent shaped scar on his left hip bone.

"That's from them." he said.

"Huh? I've had that for as long as I can remember." Naruto mumbles. The teen's finger tips trance the scar sending a lingering chill through Naruto. His eyes never leave Naruto's.

"Those _things _killed our parents soon after we were born and marked us all as their targets. Then they waited until we matured and grew strong. It's their sport. The hunt has already begun. And they got to Isabelle." he explains quietly.

"Wait, your saying-"

"Their leader impregnated her. And as far as we know, he's at least some part human. But we don't know how long she'll last." Naruto stares at him, taken aback.

_Is this guy for real? What kind of shit is this?_

"Who are you?" Naruto asks.

"My name is Sasuke."

"Okay, Sasuke, your full of bullshit." Naruto yells and grips the hand latched on his shirt and swings Sasuke against the nearest wall. Sasuke lets out a painful grunt and staggers to maintain balance. Naruto charges out the door, face by a larger basement area filled with molded cardboard boxes and dusty furniture. He spots a set of wooden stairs he climbs up. Halfway to the top, he feels a hand grip the back of his head, entangling in his hair. The grip yanks down, sending Naruto sprawling backwards down the stairs. He lands on his side and yells out in agony at the impact of the cement flooring crashing onto his body. Looking over his shoulder, Sasuke descends the stairs. A fine trail of blood drips from his head where Naruto's attack must have impacted. Naruto yells out hoarsely for help, crawling away from the foot of the staircase. Sasuke jumps at him, pinning Naruto down. A small dagger is in his hand, ready for blood.

"I tried helping you but it seems you'd rather die." Sasuke murmurs, raising the blade.

The door slams open from the top of the stairs and two figure race down. Naruto recognizes one as the first guy he had seen since he had woken up. The lazy looking teen grips both of Sasuke's arms, lifting him off of Naruto. Despite the pain, rage had overtaken Naruto and he climbs to his feet, lunging for Sasuke who is being held back. The second figure upholsters a handgun, pointing it at Naruto with his finger on the trigger.

"Don't move." The gunslinger said. Naruto freezes and then sits down, panting heavily. He couldn't remember a time when his body had been racked with so much pain. Sasuke is pulled aside to a dusty couch and made to sit down. The teen with the ponytail looks over to the staircase.

"Isabelle! Come down here with some first aid please!" He yells out. Seconds later the girl that had treated Naruto's wounds rushes down the stairs with the box. Naruto couldn't help but image her falling down halfway, as pregnant women seem to lose babies falling down stairs and such. She stops and looks from Naruto and Sasuke, as if unsure of who to assist.

"Help Blondie, Isabelle." The girl hesitates before kneeling down to Naruto. She smiles calmly at him, brushing back his hair comfortingly. She then slowly pulls up his shirt and touches his rib cage. Naruto stifles a yelp. She looks over her shoulder at the gunslinger who had put his gun away. He observes the scene silently. He has messy dark red hair and green eyes outlined with black marking like a raccoon.

"Gaara? I think he has a few bruised ribs on the right side. Could you help him upstairs to a bed?" The girl asks. Gaara nods and pulls Naruto to his feet, ducking under the blonde's arm to better support his weight. Sasuke pushes the lazy teen aside and stands.

"I can see you all are interested in helping this whelp. I know your sister is a bit to caring for her own good, Shikamaru," he gives a sideways glare to the brown haired boy. "Fine, put him in the bedroom at the end of the hall. But I want his door locked at all times and someone to check up on him every hours or so." Sasuke said, glaring at Shikamaru as he did. Gaara grunts as a response and begins to help Naruto up the stairs. Naruto cringes, the pain in his side unbearable. It felt as though a truck had rammed into his ribs. His vision blurs and he could feel himself deteriorating from what he guessing could be mal nutrition. He remembers trying his best to walk, stumbling up the stairs. Gaara leads him to a hallway junction from the basement stairs. Naruto doesn't recall anything else after being dragged in a dark room at the end of that hall.

The immense pain in his side is what woke Naruto a couple hours later. He opens his eyes, gazing around a small bedroom. There are no windows and the only lighting is a lamp in the corner of the room. It emitted a dull buzz sound that sounded much like a fly. He lay in a twin sized bed; a thick quilt lay over him. It's weight felt like lead and he felt totally trapped and weak.

_I wonder what they want from me…I mean, what the hell did I ever do to them? Sure I've pissed off a few people through out my life but this is just going to far. Damn, pretty soon my loving foster parents are gonna go on and report me a runaway or some stupid shit like that. Doesn't much matter. It's not like I haven't tried it before._

Naruto lets out a sigh and gazes about the room. There's a faded floral painting on the wall by his right side. Faded white carpeting layers the floor and the walls area nearly the same shade. On the same side of the distasteful painting is a closet, it's door slightly ajar. There's door in front of him, the way out, and most likely locked.

_Hope they didn't forget about me. Wish they'd at least give me something for the pain…just something to dull it a bit. As long as that Sasuke guy doesn't come in, I don't care who else. That guy is just to strange. And he was rambling on like some madman. What was he saying…? Something about demons or some crazy shit like that, I think._

The door creaks open and Sasuke steps in, not looking to pleasant. He smirks at Naruto challengingly knowing well that the blond could barely move. Naruto watches in silence as the teen moves across the room and sets down a tray of food on the nightstand by Naruto's bed. It smelled like toasted bread and some kind of soup. But Naruto doesn't turn his head away from Sasuke, afraid the slightest movement would lead the dark boy into a fit of rage that he had seen in the basement.


End file.
